Furniture arm protector



March 25, 1947. M. PASSEL FURNITURE ARM PROTECTOR Filed Nov. 21, 1944 Patented Mar. 25, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 2,418,092 FURNITURE ABM PROTECTOR Morris J. Passei, Yonkers, N. Y.

Application November 21, 1944, Serial No. 564,410

3 Claims. (Cl. 155-182) My invention relates to removable protectors for arms of davenports, lounges, chairs and like pieces of furniture which are partially or completely upholstered, and more particularly to such arm protectors for upholstered sitting furniture with or without slip covers.

One of the important objects of my invention is to provide an arm protector for upholstered sitting furniture, and which protector is constructed to conform to the arm configuration and is transparent thereby to permit the upholstery fabric to be visible though protected.

Another important object of my invention is to provide an elongated flexible sheath or cover for the fabric of the arm of an upholstered chair, lounge, sofa or davenport, the cover having an inverted substantially U-shaped cross-sectional configuration, and at least rear corners of the cover being provided with elastic anchoring means thereby securely to maintain the cover in position on the arm. Further, the sheath may be transparent, or it may be a fabric matching the upholstery fabric or slip cover fabric to be covered. V

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a transparent sheath for an upholstered arm of a chair, davenport or lounge, the sheath having a closed front end, open rear end and open bottom thereby to permit the sheath snugly to encase the arm thereby to prevent soiling of the arm fabric.

A further object of my invention is to provide an oil skin sheath or casing functioning as a protector for the fabric-covered arm of a piece of upholstered sitting furniture, and at least the rear corners of the sheath being provided with angularly disposed anchor hooks.

Another object of my invention is'to provide a protective sheath having a configuration conforming to that, of the arm of a piece of upholstered sitting furniture, the sheath being made of an elastic material, and at least the rear corners thereof being provided with anchor devices.

Still other objects of my invention are to provide transparent or fabric-matching removable arm covers or protectors for upholstered sitting furniture, which protectors can be made of oil silk in various configurations and styles to cover practically all sizes and shapes of upholstered, semi-upholstered, or slip-covered sitting furniture.

My invention consists in certaindetails in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device whereby the objeots contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my following claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view in elevation of an arm cover or protector constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view in elevation of the arm protector;

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the protector, the elastic anchor means being shown in detail and the upper part of the cover being cut away;

Figs. 4 and 5 show two modifications with respectively different shapes of the protector;

Fig. 6 shows the inner face of a modified form of elastic anchor means which can be employed;

Fig. '7 is a front view in perspective of a portion of an upholstered armchair, showing the manner of positioning a protector on the arm; and

Fig. 8 shows a side View in perspective of a modification.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing,

wherein like reference characters in the several figures designate similar constructional elements, my device generally comprises a casing or sheath made of a transparent material such as oil skin. My invention is not restricted to that fabric, as any flexible, durable and transparent material may be employed. The sheath may be made of a material matching the upholstery fabric or slip cover fabric. It is preferred to use a water repellant or water-proofed material. The casing is generally an inverted U, but, of course, the cross-section thereof will conform as closely as possible to that of the upholstered arm to be covered. The casing has a closed end ii, an open rear end 2 and an open bottom longitudinally from the front end I to the open end 2.

As shown in Fig. 2,, the closed end has a corn figuration. which conforms to an arm whose crosssection has a similar shape. The front end I is secured around its periphery to the forward edge of the body 3 by stitching, or by any other suitable means. It will be noted that the longitudinal lower edges of the body 3 are parallel and in alignment. The open rear end has, of course, the shape of the arm when the corner anchor devices grip the fabric and pull the casing rearwardly.

It is preferred to provide a binding around the edges of the casing. Numeral 4 denotes the binding or finishing tape along the lower edges of body 3; numeral 5 des gnates the binding or tape around t e stitched edge of the front end thereby concealing such stitching, although, of

course, the front end may or may not have binding. The binding tape 6 is run around the rear edge of the body 3. The material known as Pliofilm may be used for the binding tape if desired, or any plastic or fabric may be employed Each corner I and 1' of the rear end of the casing or sheath is provided with an anchor device to maintain the sheath snugly encased over the protected arm. Corner 1 is the rear corner of the inner wall of the casing, while corner I is the 7 rear corner of the outer wall of the casing, The anchor devices are alike in construction and location. Each of them comprises an elastic strip 8 having one end 9 thereof suitabl secured to the inner face of the corner. The corner 9 could, for example, be stitched to the inner face of its corner 'l. The length of elastic strip 8 is variable, and is so indicated in Figs. 1 and 3 by the broken lines. Also, the length of body 3 may be a variable, and actually depends on the area of the arm fabric subject to soiling. The material of the strip 3 maybe the well-known elastic fabric.

The opposite end of strip 8 may terminate in a suitable loop ill adapted to retain permanently the bight l of a hook l2. It is preferred to employ a relatively elongated steel pin with its end bent in the form of a V as shown in Fig. 3. The piercing section 13 of hook l2 functions as an anchor or piercing pin. It is sharply pointed, and of small cross-sectional diameter, and, therefore, will not tear or otherwise damage the pierced fabric. The specific shape of the hook I 2 is not an essential part of my invention, since it is only required that the hook or anchor device be constructed to function as such without damaging the upholstery fabric or the slip cover fabric. The elastic nature of the strip 8 makes it possible to keep the entire casing taut when in operative position.

I prefer to locate each elastic strip 8 at an angle which bisects the right angle corner 1. This angular disposition of the elastic strip is not critical, and it is to be understood that it may be of any suitable value to provide adequate pull at the casing corner. The like reference numerals of the elastic anchor means affixed to corner 1" are distinguished by prime designations.

The front end of the sheath may assume different shapes. For example, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, respectively, it may be a square or an arc. In the former case it would conform to the square cross-sectioned arm, and in the latter case to an arch cross-sectioned arm. Other shapes, irregular if desired, may be employed.

Furthermore, the elastic strip 8 may be replaced by the modified form of elastic anchor device shown in Fig. 6. In the latter a triangular section of each lower corner is removed, and is replaced by an elastic fabric of the equivalent shape and area. For example, the triangular elastic corner section 20 may be made of an elastic fabric known as Lastex.- The base of triangle Hi w ll be attached or affixed to the casing body' 3 along line 2! by stitching or by any other suitable method. Each hook !2 has its bight ll affixed to the inner face of each respective section 20. In Fig. 6 the inner face of a rear corner of the casing body 3 is being viewed. There is shown the hook l2 positioned with its bight H affixed, as by stitching, to the section 20. This modification has utility in such situations where it is desired to have only a small portion of the anchor device visible. The elastic nature of the corner section 2!] will cause the casing to be pulled taut. It is within the scope of my present invention to utilize for the entire body of the sheath a material which is inherently elastic, and whose rear ends in such case would have the anchor hooks attached thereto as shown in Fig. 6. Such elastic sheath could be transparent or fabric-matching.

In Fig. 7 I have depicted in a purely illustrative manner the method of protecting the arm of an upholstered chair with my present device. Only a portion of the upholstered chair is shown. The arm 22 has a shape which is conventional. Whether or not the chair is covered by a slipcover, the casing or sheath is slipped over the arm 22 in the manner shown in Fig. 7. The front end I, being substantially of the same shape and area as the front end of arm 22, will cause the body 3 of the sheath to conform to the arm. The length of the body 3 is predetermined to extend a sufficient distance rearwardly toward back wall 23 to provide suitable protection against the arms of the chair user. The materialof body 3 being transparent, the fabric of the arm or slip-cover will be visible, and the protector will not disturb the interior decoration scheme of the room. Fig. 7 shows the elastic strip 8 and its anchor hook l2 in operative position. The angular location of the strips 8 and B and the positive grip of the anchor hooks l2 and 12 on the subjacent fabric insure that the casing will be taut and snugly envelop or encase the portion of arm 22 to be protected. It will be obvious that in disuse the sheath is readily folded for assembl as a packaged unit.

In Fig. 8 I have shown a modified for-m of protector sheath whose configuration conforms to the shape of arm shown. In Fig. 8 the chair or sofa is being viewed from the outer face of one side thereof. The body would have side walls 3 and top 3". The rear elastic 8 and anchor hook 12 are shown in operative position. An additional elastic 30 and terminating anchor hook 3! would be desirable in this case. The anchor hook 3| and its elastic 30 would, of course, be constructed exactly as described for the rear hooks.

While I have illustrated and described only a few embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that my invention may assume numerous forms and that the scope of my invention i to be limited solely by the following claims.

' What I claim is:

1. A cover for the side arm of an upholstered sitting type furniture. comprising a sheath having a closed front end and open rear end and open bottom, said sheath conforming substan tially to'the configuration of the arm but having a length which is substantially less than the arm length whereby the arm is only partially covered, and anchor means at the respective rear corners of the sheath, said sheath being made of a flexible material, and each of said anchor means consisting of an elastieweb terminating with a pin which is adapted to grip aface of thearm.

2. A cover for the side arm of an upholstered sitting type furniture comprising a sheath having a closed front end and open rear end and open bottom, said sheath conforming to and overlying substantially less than the arm length whereby the arm is only partly covered, and anchor means at the respective rear corners of the sheath, said sheath being made of a transparent flexible material, and each of said anchor means consisting of an elastic web terminating with a pin which is adapted to grip a face of the arm.

,3. A protective sheath for the side arm of an upholstered furniture piece, said sheath comprising a member having top and side portions and a front end portion and being open at the 5 rear and at the bottom, said. sheath also being substantially shorter than said arm and of a shape to conform closely to the upper, front part of said arm, an anchoring device for the rear edge of each side portion of said sheath, adapted to engage each opposite face of said side arm, and tension means connecting each said anchoring device to its associated rear edge for drawing said sheath into snug fitting relation over and in conformance with said upper front part of said arm.

MORRIS J. PASSEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number England Jan. 28, 1935 

